The Chosen Alicorn

Twilight stared on in horror at the sight before her. Whatever Luna had told her to be ready for, she had been sure that this wasn't it.

This wasn't something one could simply prepare for. At all.

The streets of Canterlot were awash with the rubble and debris from various buildings, what few trees lined its sides were either uprooted, or blackened and leafless, lifeless husks of themselves, and the grass around them had long since died.

She took a breath to try and steady herself. 'This...this is horrible!' she thought as she made her way away from the palace and further out into the surrounding gloom.

The city grew worse as she made her way further in. Buildings were no longer simply crumbling away in front of her, but now, they were collapsed altogether. She passed several broken shop windows, which she dared not look in for fear of what she might find inside.

There were craters in the ground so deep that Twilight feared that once she fell in, she wouldn't be coming back up.

Several chariots littered the path around her, many of them broken and empty, their wheels and other extremities entangled with the vines and moss that seemed to be growing around them.

"They've been reclaimed by nature it seems..." she whispered to herself as she stared on in awe at the destruction before her.

She continued onward in her journey, looking around at all the things she passed. There were pieces of glass littering the street, the odd occurrence of a dead bird every now and then, and another sighting of the occasional downed tree or flipped chariot.

She looked up into the sky, staring directly at the moon. 'Nightmare Moon...caused all this?'

That was when she realized...

'Wait. Was it always this dark?'

Twilight scanned her surroundings again, this time with more purpose than before. She was finally noticing it.

'All this time...it's been dark.' She turned her sights toward the sky once more. 'And the only light present...has been the moon. But it should still be daytime even though...'

Then it hit her. She thought back to Luna's message.

'When she saw that my sister had the power to move the moon as she did, she set her plan in motion, planting within the sun a magic so horrid, that no one would be able to stop it once it had begun.'

'So then....the sun really is gone now.' She felt her eyes tearing up but whisked the thought away and tore her eyes away from the sight before her.

She wiped her eyes and continued forward...only to stop as she stepped in something.

She looked down...and screamed.

Before her was a puddle of blood, and as she lifted her hoof, a deep crimson stain greeted her.

'This is...blood?' Twilight had immediately pulled herself away from the puddle and now simply stared at the stain on her fur.

The sight of it made her stomach churn uncomfortably, after which she started hyperventilating, which soon turned into her throwing up her lunch multiple times in quick succession all over the ground in front of her.

When she finally finished emptying her stomach of all its contents, she slowly, shakily stood up, balancing herself on wobbly legs as she made her way back to Canterlot castle. She had to get away, leave all this behind her and go someplace else, someplace more...more...

'It's the end of the world, my dearest Twilight Sparkle.'

'I can't go anywhere. The whole world's like this now. There's nowhere that Nightmare Moon's bomb hasn't touched.'

As she came upon the door to the castle, she took a moment to look up at it. Then, she noticed something different about it.

Unlike inside its walls, the outside of the castle was as pristine as ever, not a single speck of dust touched its surface.

Twilight smiled. It was like a jewel. A diamond in the middle of all this chaos. A watchtower, where the souls of the dearly departed princesses watched over them from the stars. A lighthouse, to guide the way for all those lost, and a beacon of hope for all who feel their resolve wavering.

She sighed. Looking at the castle in this state made her feel so much better. She opened the doors and stepped inside, making her way towards Celestia's balcony, where she would leave Canterlot behind and move on.

Once there, at the doors, she took another steadying, calming breath, and turned the doorknob.

She stepped out onto the balcony, looked up into the sunless sky, and said, "I'll make you both proud, I swear it." before taking off into the sky and heading for the only other place she could think of. Ponyville.

Twilight touched down in the center of town, turning her head to and fro and to get a good look at her surroundings.

She was indeed in the center of town. Sugar Cube Corner was just a few feet away and Rarity's boutique was down the street from her.

She decided on Pinkie's place first.

She looked it up and down, examining the outside. It was terrible. The windows were broken, the sign was hanging off its hinges, its lights having long since fizzled out, and the cupcake that advertised the shop had fallen to the ground and was now split in half.

She almost didn't want to look inside, but something told her she had to, and so she took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and stepped inside,

What she saw, horrified her.

The sweets counter was completely destroyed, and cakes and candies were strewn across the floor in all directions.

Twilight checked behind the counter. The cabinets were in much the same shape. Their doors were off their hinges, instead, taking their new place on the floor, the wood of said doors nearly gone save for a few pieces who shared the fate of the confections all around her. She checked the kitchen.

The floor was wet and the lower contents of the sink were on full display. Well, what was left of them anyway. The entire structure had been torn clean off, and the only visible thing was the water pipe, long dry after a thousand years with no access to its source.

Twilight had the sudden thought of pinkie, sticking her head deep into the cabinet to stare at the sink and try to figure out how to fix it. It brought a smile to her face and made her giggle a little.

She left the kitchen and went up to Pinkie's room, where she found it in no better shape than the downstairs had been.

Her bed was torn to shreds, if there was any bed left of it considering it was also nearly gone, the only trace of it being the several puffs of cotton that covered the floor.

Twilight briefly imagined Pinkie jumping on the bed while blowing a trumpet or playing some other random instrument, giggling all the while. I brought a tear to her eye as she smiled once more.

The trail of cotton led to her dresser, which was wrecked so badly, that all her clothes had been strewn across her room in much the same way as the cakes and other sweets downstairs.

They had long since been burned through, along with the wood of the dresser, which was also strewn all over, holes burned through them, and some of them being stuck in the walls.

There was on last place Twilight knew she had to check, and that was...Pinkie's party cave.

She immediately went in search of the false candy that served as a lever to the door of the cave. When she found it, she pulled it, and, surprised it still worked, went inside and looked around.

The place was mostly okay, surprisingly. It wasn't like the immaculate nature of Celestia and Luna's protection spells, but it was good enough.

The walls had cracks in them, the cabinets were broken and spread across the area, and there were several small holes in the ground around her. Not to mention, when she had tried the slide, it collapsed in on itself.

She looked around at all the destruction surrounding her, and spotted a few pictures hung up on the walls of the cave, depicting several photos featuring Pinkie and her friends, along with some of her sister, Maud as well. She took a closer look at one of the photos.

It was a particular one where they were all together at once, standing before Celestia as she took their picture. She thought back to that day, when they had all first met, and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She looked at the other pictures.

Maud saving Pinkie, Fluttershy reforming Discord, Fluttershy and the dragon, Rarity and the Manehattan boutique, Rainbow Dash and her first sonic Rainboom, Rarity and her wings from the Flight competition, Apple Jack and her pirate outfit, and last but not least, dead center, was Twilight as an Alicorn, complete with crown, Spike by her side.

All of this was surrounded by each of their cutie marks embedded into the wall.

Surrounded by all these memories, all these things that reminded her of better days, of her friends, Twilight finally couldn't take it anymore, and she wept.

She wept for Celestia. She wept for Luna. She wept for Equestria and the fate it had to suffer. She wept for all the ponies who died at Nightmare Moon's hands. But most of all, she wept for her friends, whom she would never be able to see again. This moment. This, single, quiet moment, was hers, and hers alone. No plans, no false hope, no higher purpose to attend to. It was just her, her memories, and her tears.